Wednesday 13 February 2019

Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 94

I picked this week's photo as it is Valentine's week and it seemed appropriate. It was created by a company called Ars Thanea, and it is an actual sculpture they made, called The Ash. An explanation about how they did it is here.

I have gone with a standard storyline this week, one of heart break, although some might relate to it.

The General Guidelines can be found here.

How to create a clickable link in Blogger comments can be found on lasts week's post here.

There is also a Facebook group for Mid-Week Flash, if you fancy getting the prompt there.





Ashes

She used the poker to push them into the centre of the coals and sat back watching them crinkle and burn. The initial burst of fire consumed the fake roses then died down. The blackened roses retained their shape as the embers lit them from beneath, giving them an ethereal glow and tingeing their edges with red light.

Alexis remembered when she’d bought them; they were part of the fad of roses that had become the in-thing to have in your home. She’d been full of love then, full of hope, full of dreams about her new relationship.

Rafe had moved in just weeks before. It had been heady days, they’d barely come out of bed that first week. Then they had slipped into an easy routine and easy roles, never a cross word; everything talked out properly. Their hearts and feelings taken seriously by each other, and the flowers had sat proudly on the mantelpiece as a representation of that, of their commitment to each other.

Alexis felt her heart ache for those times, but years had passed and slowly things had decayed. She couldn’t pinpoint when or what, just a slow erosion of life, and then of distance as Rafe found a new job that included a lot of travel, and the silences between them became less comfortable and more like a void.

She’d developed her own life, both career and social life. She’d had to establish one on her own with him being absent most of the time. And when he’d return he’d talk about people, places and a life she didn’t know, a life she was no longer part of, and then she’d realised she was doing the same.

And then the thought had crept in, ‘what was the point of being together if they were living separate lives?’ And it had grown, making the void bigger and become like an abyss. Then the tension had grown. When he was home it had felt like he was in the way, that he was interrupting her life, and she knew he felt it too.

But rather than talk about it, like they would have done at the beginning, they kept their own counsel. Fear had crept in, fear that if they voiced it, it would be painful, that it might make it worse – when it fact it probably would have made it better.

And then the day had come. The day they both had dreaded. He had told her about another job opportunity, another life he could go and lead, but this time permanent in a far off land she’d never heard of. He had suggested she could come too, a tiny spark in his eyes, but in the same breath he had also provided reasons why it wouldn’t be a good idea, and she wasn’t convinced it was what he wanted.

Then the tears had come, the ending had come, and although they used the excuse of the job as the reason for the break-up they both knew the truth: their love had died and they had let it, and there was nothing to share anymore.

Alexis sat looking in the fireplace at the roses that had meant so much to her. No tears came now, no regret, just numb. And as the coals slumped and broke apart so did the roses, crumbling to ash, just like her heart.


15 comments :

  1. Replies
    1. Perfect kind of darkness too! Love it. Thanks for joining.

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    2. Loved it! I can't reply on your page - but I loved the darkness!

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    3. Thanks to both of you for reading it! Glad you liked it! Still learning the ups and downs of Patreon, and apparently replying (even for posts open to everyone) requires a logon, it seems. Dang... didn't know that.

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    4. I was able to reply on your own blog though as I am subscribed. It's difficult to decide which one to share though, as I know you would like to direct more people to your Patreon account.

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  2. And mine ....
    I stood on the platform, looking past my bound ankles to the fire beneath. I caught the eye of the Witchfinder who was striding triumphantly around the piled-up wood. He laughed, thinking me terrified but I smiled at him, knowing I wasn't.

    This was as unjust and stupid as his "examination" of suspected witches. The whole game was entirely wrong and only served to visit pain and suffering on the innocent.

    Those of us who were real witches, Daughters of the Goddess, knew how to cope but the poor women accused by jealous neighbours ... did not. Even this execution only killed the poor bitches. Those of us wise in the ways of the path could fall face-first onto the hot coals and disappear in smoke but not die.

    I stared at the glowing coals and saw them as red roses - they would throw me into the roses all bound and my shadow would slip away. No, this village would see me no more but die. That was the very last thing I would do!

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    1. Lovely little snippet. I liked it. Thanks for joining in.

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  3. OK, this is clearly the opening for a much longer futuristic thriller that I have already mostly plotted out (and yes, I realise this has Red Dwarf echoes, but it is not that, I promise.) Such Stuff

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    1. Brilliant, look forward to the full story. Echoes of so much more than Red Dwarf too! Thanks for joining

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  4. Yep, I've got one in! Love the photo. Romance

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    1. A different take on the picture again. I like it. Needs must as they say. Thanks for joining.

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  5. I just couldn't resist this picture. So gorgeous.

    Saving a Life

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    1. And what a sizzling entry! Thanks for joining!

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  6. It's been so long since I've participated but I couldn't resist the roses! So...here is my twisted Cinderella...only it is an evil Stepfather.

    https://lostinafieldofdandelions.wordpress.com/2019/02/20/cinders/

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    1. This is wonderful! Thanks for joining.

      Here's a clickable link for other readers: Cinders

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